


Why Am I Here

by GoldenAmara



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Agent Carolina & Agent Washington are Siblings, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Post Season/Series 18, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29123985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenAmara/pseuds/GoldenAmara
Summary: Locus finds himself back on Iris, and Reds decide to keep him.
Relationships: Agent Carolina & Agent Washington (Red vs. Blue), Agent Carolina/Vanessa Kimball, Dexter Grif & Locus | Samuel Ortez, Dexter Grif/Dick Simmons, Franklin Delano Donut & Agent Washington
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	1. Why Am I Here?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first RvB fic, and I also have not written a fic for a while. Idk how long this will go for, or how frequently I will update it as I do have a very busy semester rn. Anyways welcome to loving Locus hours

Locus was on Chorus much longer than he would have liked. He had raced Agent Washington to Chorus, dropping him off on the roof of the hospital. Against his better judgement Locus had stuck around, to make sure that Agent Washington would survive. A part of him questioned that sentiment, why would it matter to him if the man died, a year ago he would have been happy with the idea. Locus had sent A’rynasea to the rooftop of a nearby building, while he cloaked and followed as Agent Washington was whisked away on a stretcher. He stuck to the walls, dodging other hospital staff until he found himself outside the room that Agent Washington was being kept in. He watched as Dr. Grey jogged past a corner and rushed into Agent Washington's room. Locus felt somewhat relieved, knowing that the man would be in good hands. 

Locus should have left right then and there, but he couldn’t move. There was no opera music coming from the operation room, and that sent a shiver down his spine. After about three hours the door finally opened and Dr. Grey walked out, she had her greying brown hair up in a bun and her glasses sat neatly on her nose. 

“I am happy to announce that Agent Washington is in stable condition!” Dr. Grey chirped, but there was no one else in the hallway. Locus’s stomach dropped as the woman turned and stared directly at where he was hiding. Locus had stared at guns leveled at his head, he had watched cities pulverised by the alien armies, not a lot of things scared him. But this woman did. Locus never let his cloaking down, never diverted his gaze from the doctor smiling at him. The two were in a standstill. It felt like Dr. Grey was analyzing his every movement, even though she could not see him. 

Dr. Grey brought a hand up to her earpiece. Locus held his breath, expecting her to report his presence. 

“Kimball, we have Agent Washington in stable condition and we are moving him to recovery. I will notify the leutendiants as well!” She said in a sing-song voice. 

Dr. Grey held Locus with a stare for a few more seconds before swiftly nodding and then turning on her heel and walking down the hallway. 

Again, Locus should have left, but when he had tried to call Grif and inform him and the rest of Wash’s condition, Grif did not respond. So he stuck around, to make sure that the Reds and Blues made it back to Chorus safely, but this time he snuck out onto the roof of the hospital, away from Dr. Grey. If she spotted him a second time Locus wasn’t so sure that she would continue to not report his presence to President Kimball. 

_ Why am I still here.  _ Locus thought. He was sitting behind an air conditioning unit on the roof of the hospital. He had gotten Agent Washington to safety, that was all that mattered, but now he found himself waiting for the Reds and Blues to return. The chances of him being discovered were rising the longer he stayed. But he stayed. 

Locus had hacked into the communication channel of nearby soldiers and was listening in, the background chatter made him feel somewhat better. It was supposed to just serve as background noise, but then he heard something that piqued his interest. 

“I can’t believe those fucking mercanaries are still hitting the supplies thats being imported!”

“I know right? I’m really getting sick of rations.”

“And the UNSC is doing nothing! As per-fucking-usual. We should just fly out there and deal with them ourselves.”

“Volleyball, we don’t even know where they are! Besides we can’t do anything with the UNSC breathing down our necks.”  
“Let a girl dream Matthews.”

The rest of the conversation petered off into useless banter, but Locus found himself turning that new information over in his head. Locus had been working in other star systems, helping whoever he could. Other than anonymous donations to the Chorus relief fund, he had done nothing to help Chorus directly. Maybe he could try and do it some good. As soon as Locus overheard that contact had been made with the Reds and Blues he took A’rynasea and headed out of the city. 

Locus stumbled into A’rynasea and collapsed in the pilot seat. The ship hastily took off, being pursued by gunfire as it rose and darted away. Locus knew that his pursuers would most likely be sending pilots after him, however it would be a couple of minutes until they would be in the air, and A’rynasea would be out of the atmosphere by then. Locus took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, then released it and assessed the situation. He had two gunshot wounds; one had nicked him in the shoulder, he had been cloaked so it was one hell of a lucky shot. Thankfully the bullet itself was not lodged too deep into his flesh, his armour and dampened the blow. The other bullet was lodged between his ribs, that one was more concerning to him. Locus had been shot enough times to recognize that the bullet had not breached any internal organs, but he could not tell if it had caused internal bleeding. With a shaking hand he applied pressure to the wound, using the other to pry away his damaged armour. 

A’yrnasea beeped a warning, and two broadswords popped up on the radar. Locus heaved a sigh, he would have to treat the wound later, for now he grabbed some bandages from the first aid kid and removed his chest piece before firmly wrapping them around his chest to keep the pressure on the wound. Blood soaked through the wraps almost instantly, but there were more pressing matters at hand. A’rynasea swiftly dodged the missiles fired at them, swerving in between asteroids and other space debris. Locus grit his teeth as A’rynasea swerved, making his stomach lurch. A missile collided with the right wing sending A’rynasea spinning towards a nearby asteroid. 

“ _ Shit, _ ” Locus exclaimed, grabbing for the controls, “A’rynasea run cloaking and give me controls” He hissed. Locus managed to regain control of the ship and flew as closely to the asteroid as he dared. A’rynasea beeped warnings at him, the right engine was damaged and their shields were almost down. They were hidden from the Broadswords, for now, but if Locus went any faster the heat signatures would surely pop up on their radar. 

It was an agonizingly slow pace, and Locus flinched whenever one of the other ships came too close. Locus sat there frozen in place, his eyes carefully tracking the movement of the others. He was faintly aware of the slow but steady trickle of blood down his side, but he did his best to ignore it. Two hours later his pursuers finally gave up and turned around, heading back towards the small dwarf planet where the mercenaries had set up camp. Locus waited another thirty minutes just to make sure that the ships were out of range, he leaned his head on the back of his seat. 

A’rynasea hummed and flashed a couple of lights at him in distress, Locus had figured out the patterns a while ago and was able to understand the ships AI. 

**_You’re hurt._ **

“So are you.” Locus replied shortly, looking at the damage report on one of the monitors, “Can’t risk going into slip space, it will likely cause further damage, scan this planetary system for anywhere we can stay, preferable not Chorus.” he sighed as he took off his helmet and set it in his lap. He rummaged through the med kit before producing a syringe of biofoam. Locus stared at it for a minute before levelling it with his side. Inhale, apply, exhale. He closed his eyes tightly as the pain soared through his body, but never made a sound. Felix would always be bitchy about using the biofoam, and would much rather bleed out than use it. Locus shook his head and pushed the thought away. 

A’rynasea let out a short melody, informing him that they had found somewhere to go. Locus crossed his arms expectantly. A’yrnaseas lights slowly flashes red and blue, red and blue. 

“No, we are not going there, find somewhere else” Locus hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

A’rynasea simply kept the pattern going, red and blue, red and blue. Locus let out a strangled sigh, his lightheadedness from earlier was already getting worse, he could not deal with this right now. Dark blotches were crowding at the corner of his vision, the biofoam had sealed his wounds for now, but he had already lost too much blood. 

“A’rynasea.” Locus growled. A’rynasea sang again, a somewhat discordant tune. 

**_You need help._** **_And I need repairs._**

“A’rynasea!” Locus hissed, but somewhere in the back of his mind he agreed, it was the only place where he would not be shot on sight. Last he heard the Reds and Blues were on Chorus, watching over Agent Washington's recovery. The moon would be an ideal spot to take cover and repair A’rynasea. When he had briefly been there he recalled seeing a workshop of sorts, he could “borrow” some stuff from their medical bay as well. 

A’rynasea fired up the working engines and spun towards the moon of Iris. 

Wash was laying on a lawn chair on the top of their base on Iris. He listened to the rest of the Reds and Blues as they bickered over a campfire as the sun set over the horizon. It had only been a couple weeks since his injury, but Dr. Grey deemed that recovering at home would be much more beneficial to Wash’s mental health. Besides, Dr. Grey had faith that Carolina would keep a schedule for Wash, helping him in his physical recovery, alongside Tucker. Things had been different since his injury, not only was this his second time around, but this time the Reds and Blues were actually there, and they acted differently too. Grif had shared food with him, and Wash noticed that Sarge didn’t yell as much when he was around. It was the little things that made his heart warm, he was letting himself heal, and for once he was letting others help him. Washington absentmindedly scratched at the bandages at his neck, before his hand was lightly slapped away from his neck, 

“Hey! No scratching remember!” Tucker scolded, he wore a blue hoodie over his armours undersuit, and had his dreads pulled up in a bun. Wash rolled his eyes at him 

“Okay  _ Dad”  _ he teased, but Tucker simply snorted and waved his hand at him dismissively. He watched as Grif piled a skewer high with marshmallows and put it near the base of the campfire, 

“You gotta put it close to the embers, that way you don’t have to turn it over or whatever,” He was explaining to Simmons, who was staring blankly at his own marshmallow that had caught on fire. 

“Yeah but if you just leave it down there it doesn’t do the thing where it turns golden!” Tucker argued, pointing an accusing finger at Grif. Wash smiled to himself as the two began to argue over how to properly roast a marshmallow, which then turned into a competition to see who could roast the perfect marshmallow. Carolina jumped at the opportunity, her eyes glinting. 

“Agent Washingtub!” 

Wash glanced to his side seeing Caboose sit down cross legged on the chair right next to him. He held two skewers with marshmallows on them, and he handed one to Wash.   
“I got you marshmallow! You are welcome.” Caboose declared, waving his marshmallow stick around. Caboose was not allowed near the campfire, (they had learned that lesson early on) so they were raw and somewhat cold. Wash didn’t mind, he liked them better that way anyways.   
“Thank’s Caboose,” he smiled, taking the marshmallow stick as it was offered to him. They sat there in silence, watching the groups competition, Caboose happily munched on his snack. Wash suspected Caboose had eaten part of the stick, and was about to check when Caboose jumped to his feet. 

“Oh my gosh! A shooting star!” He exclaimed, pointing up at the sky. Caboose turned to Wash, “Make a wish! Make a wish!” 

Washington turned his eyes up to the sky, squinting, “Ummm” 

Carolina looked up after hearing his uncertainty, then turned her head towards the darkening sky, the rest of the group soon followed. 

“Oh yeah there is a shooting star,” Grif observed, then quickly turned his attention back to the fire, seemingly unimpressed. 

“If it was a shooting star it wouldn’t still be going dumbass! It would be burned by the atmosphere by now!” Simmons hissed. 

“Uh, guys? I think it’s getting closer.” Tucker warned, standing up slightly. Carolina warily reached for the rifle that was leaned up against the back of her chair, 

“It’s a ship.” She stated, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. 

“And looks like it’s crashing, party pooper,” Kai groaned, taking a long sip of beer. 

“Wait-” Grif had turned his attention to the silver ship as he drew closer, Wash could see that one of its engines was smoking, “I think that’s Locus’s ship!” He exclaimed. Everyone else except Kai seemed to stiffen at the name, but the name didn’t ring a bell for Wash, was he supposed to know them?

They all watched as the ship dived towards the lake, the engines sputtering, it was able to even out and it skipped a couple times on the surface of the water, until it crashed into solid land. Washington released a breath he was not aware he was holding, at least the ship hadn’t gone into the water. Wash quickly rose to his feet, ignoring the dark blotches that swam through his vision, he knew they would pass. 

“Alright team let’s go help whoever was in that thing, double time!” He declared before lightly jogging towards the stairs that led off the roof. Kai and Grif rushed past him, running towards where the ship had crashed. Wait, Grif was  _ running. _ Wash stood there stunned for a moment,

“Stop!” Carolinas voice rang out, and the siblings slowed to a stop below, Wash felt Tuckers hand fall on his shoulder. 

“Carolina what do you mean stop?! They could be hurt!” Washington argued, turning around to stare at Carolina who had risen to her feet and had the rifle in her hands. Tucker stood beside him, “Wash, that’s Locus’s ship, we can’t rush in there like that”

“Actually I think Wash is right! Locus could be hurt!” Grif called from his place on the ground below. 

“Yeah, I don’t know who this Locus dude is but you don’t just leave them hanging like that!” Kai agreed, crossing her arms and fixing Carolina with a stare. 

“Oh yeah, Locus is that green and grey guy from the Blues and Reds base,” Grif quickly explained to Kai. 

“Oh FUCK its that hunk of junk? We definitely gotta go help now.” 

Carolina pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a strangled sigh, 

“Tucker, and Wash, you stay here, rest of you come with me, we go as a group, got it?” She ordered, staring at the Grif siblings, who grumbled and stopped to wait for the rest of them. 

“What? Why?!” Tucker and Wash exclaimed in unison. Carolina fixed the two of them with a glare, 

“Tucker I can’t trust you not to stab him on site, and Wash you are in no position to be running off anywhere. Sit back down.” Carolina explained. Wash wanted to rebel, he wanted to go see the situation for himself, but his body was trembling with how quickly he had risen. Wash sighed in defeat and let Tucker guide him back to a chair, 

“Alright, but keep comms open, I want to be able to hear what's going on.” he said, rubbing his temple with his hand. Tucker reluctantly sat down beside Wash, his arms crossed and grumbling to himself. 

Washington watched as the rest of the team jog to where the ship had crashed.

  
  



	2. Can We Keep Him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: I am going to try posting a new chapter every other Monday   
> (Comments and Kudos are appreciated)

Much to Carolina's complaint, Grif immediately approached the Locus Pocus with a determined look on his face. The ship buzzed, smoke rising from its right engine. 

“Uuh, bro I don’t see a door,” Kai said as she sauntered up to his side. 

“When the fuck did you two get so fast?” Simmons wheezed as he leaned forward with his hands on his knees. The three of them jumped as the ship let out a soft hum, Carolina and Sarge raised their weapons. An outline of a door appeared on the side of the ship, and a docking platform appeared leading up into a dark interior. 

“Locus? You in there?” Grif called, squinting into the darkness. When there was no answer Grif started forwards. 

“Grif wait, it could be a trap!” Sarge exclaimed, 

“You think everythings a trap old man,” Kai shot back, 

“Grif be careful, it might not even be Locus in there.” Carolina warned as Grif climbed up to the ship and poked his head in, Simmons and Kai craned their necks to do the same. 

They could see a body slumped over in the pilots seat, unmoving. Grif cautiously walked towards it, and recognized the helmet, 

“Yup it’s Locus,” Grif said, walking to the man's side. 

“Is he dead?” Simmons hissed. Grif put a hand on Locus’s shoulder, and promptly got elbowed in the face. “Still alive!” he groaned as he stumbled backwards. 

“So he is not a skeleton, that's good.” Caboose concluded. Carolina pushed past Simmons and Kai and stepped onto the ship. Locus was moving now, and was hunched forwards in his chair with his head in his hands. 

“Wh-who?” he growled, but froze as he felt the weight of a rifle on the back of his helmet. 

“Lay off Carolina! The dude’s barely conscious!” Grif exclaimed, Carolina ignored his complaints. 

“What are you doing here.” She asked Locus, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

“I-I thought you were- you’re supposed to be back on Chorus?” Locus said carefully, he tried to stay still but he couldn’t help himself from clutching his side. Carolina’s eyes followed the motion, 

“You’re hurt.” She stated, 

“I’m fine.” Locus growled as he applied pressure to the wound, his vision swam as he turned his head to look at her. 

“Dude, you’re bleeding from like, a couple places I don’t think that’s fine.” Grif pointed out, “Carolina I really think we should get him some help or something.”

“Did someone say help!” Caboose was at their sides in a second, “I love helping! We should go get Freckles! He loves helping too.” 

Carolina sighed, “Locus, you’re going to come with us, got it?” She ordered, but Locus didn’t move. Locus had tried to stand up when Caboose made his appearance, but he was now slumped back in his chair again, his breathing ragged. Caboose poked him. 

“I think he is taking a nap.”

  
  


Locus felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness, his whole body ached, and he didn’t know where he was. A distant part of him heard waves crashing, and the muffled sound of people arguing. At some point he was picked up, he didn’t know how long, but he was put back down. Locus tries to wake himself up, to clear his mind and face the matter at hand, if only he knew what it was. 

He feels himself slipping again, like when you get to the top of the stairs and your body takes another step only to be met with open air. Locus felt like that, but it was drawn out and he had no idea when his foot would meet the floor again.

He hears laughter, not Felix’s sinister evil chuckle, this laughter was warm. It was the only tangible thing so Locus latched onto it. 

_ Locus, no, Sam is sitting in a cozy living room. Megan sits across from him on the couch, she makes gestures air as she tells a story. It must be funny because Sam feels himself laughing. Fel-Issac doubles over next to him, leaning on Sam for support as he laughs. He hasn’t heard that laugh for a while, it was genuine and happy, it had not yet been soiled with hate and pride. Mason sits in an armchair to the other side of Sam, Mason had definitely heard this story before but was staring at his wife intently, listening to every word. Megan was never meant to know that Felix and Locus existed, but she had come home early and insisted that they stay for a while. Mason could never really say no to her.  _

_ He felt a bump at his shoulder,  _

_ “Hey Sam? You good?” Issac asked, shaking his shoulder lightly. Sam realized that he must have spaced out,  _

_ “I- yes,” he said curtly. _

_ Issac squeezed his shoulder and turned to continue to listen to Megan.  _

  
  


Carolina stood outside the door where they were keeping Locus, thankfully he had remained unconscious while they did stitches. She wanted to believe that Locus was a different man now, but old habits die hard. 

It was around midnight now, and Carolina rested her head against the wall. 

“So we’re really not going to turn him in?”

Carolina jumped a little and whipped around to face Tucker, who was leaning against the couch in the living room a couple feet away. 

“I-He-, I don’t know Tucker, I think he has proven he has changed, but. I know Kimball, and she will very likely have him executed,” Carolina sighed as she pushed off of the wall and walked towards Tucker. Tucker raised an eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed, 

“I just don’t like the idea of him being here, especially when Wash is…” Tucker's words petered off and he looked at the ground. Carolina sighed, 

“How is Wash? I didn’t get the chance to check up on him,” Carolina asked, worried. Tucker shrugged, 

“He didn’t remember Locus, at least, not the Locus on Chorus. Unfortunately another migraine started up before I could tell him much so I just brought him to bed.” 

Carolina hummed thoughtfully, looking back to the room they were keeping Locus in. 

She looked back at Tucker, who had allowed himself to fall over and into the couch. 

“Well, if it makes you feel any better the door locks from the outside, and considering how much blood Locus lost he won’t be able to bash it down.” Carolina said as she leaned over the couch, looking at Tucker. Tucker chuckled lightly, 

“Even if he did manage to get out, not many places to go.” he sighed. 

“I can keep watch for the rest of the night, you should rest.” Tucker said, reaching up and booping Carolina on the nose. Carolina swiftly swatted his hand away, 

“Tucker I’m fine i ca-”

“Shut the fuck up and go sleep.” Tucker groaned. He stood up and shooed Carolina away. 

Tucker crashed back down on the couch as soon as she left, keeping an eye on the door. He wanted to go in there and make sure that Locus wasn’t up to anything, but Carolina had been right. Locus would not have energy to fight, or do anything really. Hell, the guy had actually taken a bullet for Wash when they were in the everwhen. Wait, but that hadn’t actually happened, did it even count? 

Tucker sighed to himself and glanced back over at the door, of course nothing had changed. It was around 3:00 AM when Tucker heard the telltale creak of a door opening, he dropped his datapad and got to his feet. However, Locus’s door was still closed, Tucker walked over and tried the handle, still locked as well. He looked towards the hallway that led to the quarters and saw Wash slowly walking towards the kitchen, he didn’t seem to notice Tucker. 

“Wash, what are you doing awake?” Tucker asked softly, walking towards the other man. Wash startled, and Tucker reached out to steady him. He blinked, staring at Tucker for a few moments. It was dark and Tucker could not see Wash easily, but the other was trembling slightly under his touch. 

“Um, just getting some water, probably would help with the headache.” Wash mumbled and continued to move forward. 

“Dude, you’re like, half awake. Sit down and I’ll get you some,” Tucker led Wash towards the couch, he sat down with an annoyed huff. 

“I’m going to turn a light on,” Tucker warned, reaching over to an old lamp that was sitting on a coffee table. Wash nodded and closed his eyes so the light would not make his headache worse. Tucker left for the kitchen and swiftly returned with a glass of water. He handed it to Wash and sat down beside him. The light from the lamp was not particularly strong, but it was enough. 

“You had another nightmare?” Tucker stated, carefully looking at the other. 

Washington chuckled lightly, “Is it really that easy to tell, huh?” Wash asked as he stared down into his cup of water. Tucker went silent, not sure how he should respond. 

“Well, what about you? What are you doing up at-” Washington looked around and grabbed the datapad, “Three A.M?” he finished after looking at the time. 

“Carolina wanted to keep watch on.. him, she was probably going to stay up all night if I hadn’t taken over for her,” Tucker responded, quickly glancing over his shoulder at the door. Wash nodded absentmindedly, sipping at the glass of water. 

“Locus right?” Wash asked, following Tucker's gaze. “He… didn’t he try to kill me?”

“Several times.” Tucker answered bitterly.

“But. He also saved me?” Wash asked, “he was there, when I… when I got hurt?” 

Tucker pursed his lips together, “Sure, I guess.” he sighed. Wash looked over at him curiously, 

“I’m guessing you don’t like him?” he asked. Tucker merely shrugged in response. They slipped into silence after that as Wash slowly drank his water. 

“I would offer to keep watch for the rest of the night, but I'm kinda tired. Would probably fall asleep on the job” Wash said after a while, smiling slightly. 

“I would have told you no anyways.” Tucker shot back, smiling as well. 

“Let me know when he wakes up,” Wash said as he stood up, setting the glass on the coffee table. 

“Do you want help getting back?” Tucker asks as he watches Wash’s knees tremble slightly. 

“I’ll be fine, I can walk!” Wash said with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

Tucker shouldn’t have laughed when Wash fell over a few seconds later. 

“Irony is a bitch isn’t it,” Tucker said, trying to stop himself from laughing. He got up and held a hand out to help Wash to his feet. Washington rolled his eyes and accepted Tuckers hand, his head spinning slightly from the tumble. Wash allowed Tucker to help him back to his room. 

  
  


Locus woke up slowly, objects around him slowly came into view and sounds became more distinct. He let himself lay in the limbo between being asleep and being awake, it was peaceful, but then he remembered where he was. He sat up quickly, but hissed as pain blossomed in his torso. Right. He had been injured, and he remembered A’rynasea crashing. Other than that he could not place where he was. From what he could see he was in a dark small room, there was morning light coming from a window near the ceiling. It was too small to get through so Locus mentally scratched the option of escaping that way out. He was lying on a cot, and Locus could see poorly made shelves storing medical supplies, food, and other things. His armour was gone, leaving Locus in his undersuit, his hair was loose and hung around his shoulders. Locus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, he was not thrilled of the prospect that whoever captured him had seen his face. 

Once his wounds had returned to a dull ache Locus swung his legs over the side of the cot and onto the ground. Much to his surprise his helmet had been placed on the ground beside the cot. He blinked at it for a second or two. Locus reached down and pulled it into his lap, staring at the triangular pattern on the front. 

Sound started to emerge from the other side of the door, whoever else was here must be waking up. Locus listened intently as the activity grew, and voices started speaking to each other. He tensed as he recognized the voices. Locus was on Iris, and had been taken by the Reds and Blues.

God fucking dammit. 

  
  



	3. Change of Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Locus does not understand the Reds and Blues.  
> Also some good Wash and Donut friendship

Locus tucked his hair into the back of his undersuit and slipped the helmet on. He mentally prepared himself for the migraine that was waiting outside the door. Locus sat on the side of the cot, staring down at the floor. Locus jumped slightly as there was a knock at the door, 

“Rise and shine Locus! Im busting in!”

Locus recognized the voice as Private Donut, he tensed as the door opened and a blonde man peeked his head in.  
“Great! You’re already awake!” Donut exclaimed cheerfully, opening the door wider to let himself in and closed the door behind him. Donut was holding a bowl of oatmeal in one hand, and a glass and what appeared to be painkillers in the other. 

“I didn’t really know what you wanted to eat so it’s just plain old oatmeal, hope you don’t mind. Also some Advil because the morning after is a bitch, I know from experience!” Locus watched Donut babble as he placed the oatmeal, water, and painkillers on the shelf closest to the cot Locus was sitting on. 

“Why-” Locus began to ask but Donut swiftly cut him off, 

“Everyone else wanted to barge in here and start asking questions but I convinced them to let you eat something first! I swear those guys have no decency!” Donut continued. “Anyways, how are you feeling?”

Locus was somewhat dumbstruck by the energetic outburst, he had been expecting to be interrogated. Locus blinked, realizing he hadn’t answered the question, 

“The pain is minimal.” He said, keeping his gaze even with Donuts. 

The blonde stared him down, his good eye narrowing, suddenly he popped back up and clapped his hands together, 

“That’s good! You take as long as you need in here, everyone will be waiting to see you outside!” He said cheerfully, waving Locus a goodbye before walking out the door. 

  
  
  
  


Locus was having a hard time comprehending what he saw when he exited the room. The Sargent was in full armour, standing on a chair with one foot on the table, he had a shotgun pointed at Grif’s face who was sitting across from him. Grif seemed too calm given the circumstances, and he clutched a bottle of what appeared to be maple syrup to his chest. Donut was frantically trying to get Sarge to put the weapon down while Simmons was screeching at Grif to “Just do what Sarge says.” Carolina sat at the head of the table, watching with slight amusement in her eyes. Tucker was sprawled out on one of the couches nearby, slightly dozing off as he watched something on his datapad.

“You backstabbing bastard! How dare you ignore a direct order from your super colonel?!” Sarge shouted, 

“SARGEANT! NO GUNS AT THE TABLE!” Donut yelled, in a much more commanding voice than Locus thought he was capable of. 

“Yes. No guns allowed because no one would ever shoot anyone else while they were at the table.” Caboose agreed through a mouthful of oatmeal.

“Grif just give him the goddamn syrup!” Simmons whined, shaking Grif with his arm. 

“Yeah but I called dibs.” Grif shot back

“Dibs this motherfucker!” Sarge retorted, shoving the shotgun in Grif’s face, 

“We all know that Simmons as already called dibs on Grif,” Kaikana said, throwing a wink Simmons way, 

“WH-WHA, NO?!” Simmons sputtered while Grif groaned, 

“Kai, no.” He hissed, pointing a finger at his sister's face.

Locus just stood there, not knowing if he should make his presence known. 

“Okay everyone, quiet down, you’re gonna wake up Wash.” Carolina commanded, 

“Too late for that I'm afraid,” Washington said as he walked towards the others, leaning his weight on a cane. Sarge sat back down in his chair with a grumble, but kept his shotgun at his side.    
Wash spotted Locus and gave him a friendly wave, “Good to see you on your feet Locus!” he called from across the room. Everyone at the table froze and slowly turned to see Locus behind them. 

“Dude, how long have you been standing there?” Grif asked. 

Locus froze as well, wishing he had his cloaking, but he didn’t. He glanced around, looking for some sort of exit from the situation, 

“I- not long. I didn’t mean to intrude.” Locus forced out, keeping his body language guarded. Wash snorted as he made his way to the table, and sat down, grabbing for a cup of coffee. 

“I will leave as soon as I can,” Locus said, he finally saw the door leading outside and headed towards it. 

“Really, from what I saw the Locus Pocus is busted, you’re stuck with us bitch!” Grif retorted, standing up and approaching Locus with arms crossed. 

“Please stop calling it that.” Locus sighed, staring down at the other, 

“What are you doing here Locus?” Carolina asked, she had stood up now and was staring at Locus inquisitively. 

“Well, while on Chorus I heard word of a small group of the remaining mercenaries had blocked off a trade route, I decided to track them down.” Locus explained, Carolina considered his words, “Okay but how did you end up here?” She asked.

Locus sighed, “They had a base at the edge of this sector, I took out the mercenaries and then sent out a distress beacon for the UNSC to pick up. However I was pursued by some of the mercenaries. I managed to outmaneuver them and get away, but not without damage, obviously.” 

“So, they would have followed you back here?” Simmons squeaked, Carolina glared at Locus after hearing the remark.

“Iris is too close to Chorus for their comfort, if they’re smart they would have left this sector as fast as they could.” Locus explained patiently, “I came here to lay low because I thought the rest of you would be on Chorus,”

Carolina didn’t look convinced, but she seemed to drop it for now, 

“Alright, you can stay here until your ship is repaired,” she decided. Some of the tension flooded out of the room, but Locus could tell a few of the others were keeping a close eye on him. He started to make his way to the door, “I’ll begin repairs,” he grunted, oh so eager to escape the prying eyes on him. 

“Now hold on mister!” Donut exclaimed, he jumped to his feet and blocked Locus’s path to the door, “You are in no condition! You should be resting! Besides the last thing you need right now is to pop a stitch,” Donut said, crossing his arms and staring Locus down. Locus screamed on the inside, but did not let any indication of it show through his posture.

“I would like to check what needs to be repaired,” Locus hissed through gritted teeth, but Donut did not back down.   
“We can send Lopez to go do that!” He exclaimed, trying to shoo Locus towards the couch. He did not budge. 

“Jesus, Donut, how bout I go with him to make sure he doesn’t keel over and die or something,” Locus never thought he would be thankful for Grif, but he was now. 

“I think I left some of my stuff in his ship anyways,” he said, pushing past Donut and out the door. As Locus left he could have sworn Simmons was glaring at him.

Locus let himself relax a little as he was finally let outside, the sky was overcast, however there were no signs of rain. The base was at the crest of a small hill, and a trail down to the beach had been formed with how many times the inhabitants had walked to it. Looking behind him Locus could see a campfire pit of sorts on top of the base, it was surrounded by lawn chairs and rickety plastic tables. He could see A’rynasea a little ways down the beach pressed into the surrounding hillside. Grif began to stroll towards it, hands in the pockets of his orange sweater.

“Uuh, so what did you do with the volleyballs? I didn’t see them when I went into the ship and you almost broke my nose,” Grif asked casually as they made their way towards the ship. Locus stiffened, now just noticing the bruise that was forming on the bridge of Grif’s nose 

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to hurt you.” Locus muttered, guilt washing over him. Grif looked back at him “Hey dude it’s all good, Wash and Carolina have attacked us plenty times after we’ve woken them up, I probably should have learned my lesson by now,” Grif shrugged, seemingly unaffected. 

Locus sighed, “Still…” Grif side eyed him warily, expecting a melodramatic speech or something, but thankfully Locus let it go. 

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted them back, they should be in the storage,” Locus explained, Grif grimaced

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or disturbed,” he said, “I would’ve thought you would have punted them as soon as you got the chance.” 

“I tried,” Locus said, earning a questioning look from Grif,

“A’rynasea was amused by them I believe, and wouldn’t let me open the airlock to dispose of them,” Locus explained. Grif stopped in his tracks, 

“Wait, the ship has an AI?!” Grif exclaimed, Locus shook his head,

“No, it- I believe it is sentient to some extent, but, it’s not complex enough to be an AI,” Locus said, continuing to walk past Grif. Grif caught up to Locus and looked over at him 

“Was that why it was humming and shit while I was having a psychotic breakdown?” Grif wondered, looking to A’rynasea as they approached.   
“Yes, it found you intriguing, I believe,” Locus sighed. He came to a stop a few meters from the ship, looking up at the hull.

“Huh,” Grif sighed, going quiet for the moment.

Locus walked a perimeter around the ship, scanning and memorizing all the external damages he could see. Grif stood at the hull,  
“The ship could probably tell you what needs to be repaired? Like diagnostics and stuff,” Griff offered, watching as Locus examined the wing. The ship seemed to hum with agreement, startling Grif somewhat, 

“I like to see the damages myself, and not in a report,” Locus growled, finishing his perimeter of A’rynasea, 

“I put your armour back in the ship, Lopez repaired it last night” Grif said, staring at the ground, Locus’s helmet tilted towards him. There was an awkward silence between the two, and Grif kicked his leg back and forth in the dirt, 

Locus knocked on the hull of A’rynasea and the door opened letting Locus inside, 

“I will be here if you need anything,” Locus grunted, climbing up the steps,

“Hey wait,” Grif started, taking a step towards the other, Locus turned his head to look at him, standing in the doorway of A’rynasea, 

“I just, uh. Thanks.” Grif said, averting Locus’s gaze, 

“For what?” Locus responded, his voice cautious ,

“Cause you helped save the guys, and I guess, you kinda saved me too,” Grif sighed, scratching the back of his head. Locus stared at Grif for a while, 

“Right.” he said curtly. 

“Cool,” Grif responded, “uh, i’m gonna go back now, catch you later?” Grif said, backing up towards the base, and awkwardly pointing finger guns at Locus. Grif then turned heel and walked away, forgetting about the volleyballs for the moment. 

Wash found himself sitting on the soft carpet in Donut’s room later that day, for their wine and cheese hour. Except Washington was banned from drinking for the foreseeable future, so he was just nursing a wine glass of cranberry juice. Donut sat across from him on the floor, digging through a box of nail polish with vigor. 

“So I wanted to do something special because this is the first time i’ve been alone with you since I got back from visiting my moms!” Donut chattered, he made a little “aha!” as he produced a phial of yellow nail polish. He got Wash to scoot over and put his hands on top of a tiny coffee table that sat in the middle of the carpet, 

“It’s okay if I paint your nails right?” Donut asked, shaking the bottle of nail polish,

“I already said yes, Donut,” Wash sighed, looking down at his slightly shaking hands, 

“I know but people can always change their mind!” Donut chirped, he uncapped the nail polish and held one of Wash’s hands still with his own. It was calming, and the shakes in Wash’s hands ebbed after a few minutes, he let a sigh out of his nose. He sat there, watching as Donut spread the nail polish over his nails. Wash knew that he would likely chew or pick the polish off within a few days, but Donut never seemed to mind. He heard a muffled noise, and looked up to see that Donut’s mouth was moving. 

“Hm- oh sorry, what did you say?” Wash asked, feeling a little pinprick of embarrassment in the corner of his mind.  
“How have you been doing Wash?” Donut asked, looking up at Wash with a bright blue eye. “Just wanted to check in ‘cause Locus came here and I heard you were having some trouble remembering last night?” 

Wash sighed, scratching the back of his head with his free hand, fingers trailed over his neural implant, old habit.

“It’s weird, cause, I thought Kimball would have shot him as soon as he landed,” Washington admits, tracing the outline of the implant with his fingers, 

“That’s probably because Kimball isn’t here!” Donut responded, studying Wash, intently.

“Do you want me to remind you or do you want to figure it out yourself?” Donut added softly, squeezing Wash’s hand. Wash pulled his other hand away from the back of his neck, “We’re on Iris right?” Wash asked, his eyes furrowed in frustration. He knew they were on Iris, he could look right out the window and see the cliffs and the beach, but the details slipped through his grasp. Donut saw the frustration building in Wash’s face and piped up 

“Yup! Kimbal dropped us off here last week and stayed a couple nights, but she left two days ago,” Donut supplied the details, Wash let the tension drain from his shoulders. It was like putting on a pair of glasses, being able to see clearly again.

“Right, right. Thanks Donut,” Wash sighed, Donut hummed and continued painting. Wash knew it would only be a matter of time before the blurriness returned to his mind, but he held on tightly to the clarity. 

“Do you know what Locus is doing?” He wondered, glancing out the window.

“Grif said he’s been sulking in A’rynasea since this morning.” Donut sighed, finishing with Wash’s left hand and grabbing gently for the right. Wash complied, being careful to not ruin the drying nail polish on his hand. 

“Y’know, I think I thought he was someone else? It's, weird, they’re obviously not the same person but my brain kinda meshed them together,” Wash spoke, staring at the yellow paint on his nails. Donut let him ramble, listening as Wash spoke, 

Donut sighed, taking a long sip of wine, 

“Do you mind if I ask who?” Donut asks, leaning his head on his hand. 

Wash thought for a moment,

“I’m actually not sure-” he said, digging through his mind trying to find an answer. “I think it was Maine to some extent, they’re both tall, silent type, and,” Wash wondered out loud, but there was a road blocked off in his mind.

“Maine? I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about him before,” Donut asked, curiosity glinting in his eyes. Wash found his hand trailing to the back of his neck, but he quickly pulled it away remembering the nail polish was yet to dry. 

“He was, the Meta, but, before he became the Meta,” Wash flexed his fingers, trying to keep his mind from wandering to painful memories. “Locus is not Maine,” He said out loud, mostly to himself. 

“Do you want to talk about him? About Maine?” Donut asked softly, Wash shook his head, 

“No, not yet at least.” Wash sighed, then Wash inhaled as he realized, 

“I think Locus reminds me of myself, when I was… when I was the bad guy” he admitted quietly. “And, I feel like I should be mad at him - at Locus, but I’m not.” 

Donut nodded, 

“I know, but people can always change their mind” he responded, glancing up at Wash. Wash chuckled lightly, looking back out the window.

“Yeah, I guess they do.” 

Wash paused, his eyes flicking around as if he were looking for something in his head, “Wait, wouldn’t it be a change of heart? I’m pretty sure that’s how the saying goes” he asked, lifting a scarred eyebrow at Donut. Donut pursed his lips, thinking for a second, 

“No, I’m pretty sure it was a change of mind,” He shrugs and screws the lid back on the nail polish. Washington held up his hands and examined the yellow paint of his nails. “What makes you say that? Wouldn’t he realize what he was doing was wrong, wouldn’t that be a change of heart?” Wash asks. 

“...Because he got rid of his heart,” Donut says sadly, “So it wouldn’t hurt,” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Just a reminder that I will be posting new chapters every other Monday


	4. 1000 Year Old Polaroids

Locus leaned back on the wall of A’rynasea as soon as the door closed, slowly sliding down the wall until he was sitting. He unclipped his helmet, a slight hiss escaping as he took it off. He sighed and leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. He dragged a gloved hand over his face, and closed his eyes, 

“A’rynasea, run diagnostics” he says, dropping his hand to the floor to push himself to his feet. A’rynasea sings, 

**Already Did**

Locus sits down in the pilots seat, setting his helmet down on the seat beside him. He glances to the pile of volleyballs in the corner as the data loads up on the screen. It feels like the blank helmets are judging him. He decides to dump them on the ground outside A’rynasea, making sure they wouldn’t roll into the water. If Grif wanted them back he could come get them. Locus returns to the screen, reading the report. He furrowed his brows, the right engine would need some parts replaced, and the shield generator beside it was toast. 

“A’rynasea, how long would repairs take with the supplies we have with us?” He asks, a number quickly pops up on the screen; 

**3 Weeks**

Locus sighs, “Do not account for my recovery time.” he growls, rubbing his temples. A’rynasea pauses, seeming to think.

**3 Weeks**

Locus gives the screen a flat stare, very tempted to turn it off. The lights around the screen flash red and blue,

“No we are not asking them for help.” Locus says curtly. 

A’rynasea hummed, 

**Help = Less Than 3 Weeks**

Locus resigned, and shut the screen off. A’rynasea made an annoyed hum. 

“I don’t want to deal with you right now.” Locus sighed, he closed his eyes and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. He just had to stay out of the Reds and Blues way until A’rynasea was fixed and he could leave. Easier said than done. Locus stood up and wandered to the back of the ship, there was a small bed wedged underneath a storage unit, and he found his armour piled up in the corner. Locus stared at the pile for a moment, considering checking over it, but exhaustion tugged his body towards the bed. Locus trailed his fingers through his hair, which he had started to grow out after Chorus, it was only long enough to fit into a small ponytail, which he pulled out. It was still mid morning but the short trek to A’rynasea had drained him, as well as having to spend any amount of time around the Reds and Blues. 

“A’rynasea, compile a list of the materials needed for repairs, that we don’t have with us right now.” Locus sat down on the edge of the bed, the pain medication was keeping his pain to a dull ache, but his body was still tired. “And, let me know if anyone else approaches,” 

A’rynasea hummed in acknowledgement. Locus allowed himself to sleep. 

Locus startled awake to the sound of A’rynasea beeping, and he instinctively reached for a pistol he kept in a compartment by his head. Locus swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up, stumbling as pain shot through his abdomen. He dragged himself to the cockpit and glanced out the window. Cresting the hill nearby was Agent Carolina, half dressed in her armour heading towards the ship. The sun was low in the sky and if Locus had to guess it was probably mid afternoon. Locus quickly tucked his hair back into a ponytail and shoved his helmet back on. He hesitated by the bay door, trying to decide whether he should open it now or wait for Carolina to knock. Shit, he didn’t know how to act in this situation, he started to run through the logic in his brain. Carolina would be the most suspicious of him, and if he opens the door now it may set off alarms. So he waits, staring at the wall, waiting for Carolina to knock. 

The door opened after the first knock, and Carolina stepped back, not expecting it to open so quickly. Locus nodded to her, “Agent Carolina, what do you need?” he said, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. Carolina recovered quickly and cleared her throat, “Donut wanted me to come tell you that dinner is at 17:00,” She sighed, putting her hands on her hips and staring up at Locus. Locus tilted his head to the side, wondering why the man was extending that kindness to him.

“What the fuck are these volleyballs?” Carolina blurted out, spotting the pile of balls under the ship. 

“They’re Grif's,” Locus says, possibly a little too quickly. Carolina raises an eyebrow, looking between Locus and the Volleyballs. 

“You know, if you hurt any of them, I _will_ break you,” Carolina says, looking at the pile of volleyballs.   
“I’m not going to hurt them, I’ve already established this,” Locus says flatly.

Carolina rolled her eyes, “I mean  _ emotionally. _ ” she hisses. Locus pauses, confused, 

“They get attached quickly and the last thing they need right now is to be ghosted.” she says, pointing a finger at Locus, 

Locus sighs, “I will try my best not to,” he responds. Carolina looks at him intently, she lets a breath out her nose and backs down, looking off into the distance. 

“I told Vanessa about you crashing here,” she says. Locus stiffens, as if preparing himself to flee. 

“What?” he gets out through gritted teeth, watching Carolina like a hawk. 

“Look, we’re willing to give you a chance but President Kimball is not all too eager to trust, for obvious reasons. But lucky for you she is too busy with the UNSC’s bullshit to even attempt to bring you back into custody.” Carolina explained, 

“What do you plan to do with me then?” Locus asks, 

“I’m simply going to keep you close enough to keep an eye on you, and I have a way of ensuring that,” Carolina replied, her expression slipping into something smug. She pulled Locus’s energy sword out of her pocket, and waved it in the air beside her head mockingly. 

“Give it back,” Locus growled defensively, 

“You can get it back once you’ve proven we can trust you,” Carolina says, clipping the sword to her side. She smirked triumphantly and backed away, beginning to walk back towards the base. 

“Donut’s making chili tonight! You don’t want to miss out on that!” Carolina calls over her shoulder.

Locus stood there for a long time after Carolina left, examining the interaction in his head, it both confused and frightened him.

Once Carolina got back to base she changed into sweats and a tank top before heading to the kitchen and living area. Wash was sitting on the couch, leaning forwards and writing in a notebook that was sitting on the coffee table. He had his reading glasses propped up on his forehead and held a pencil in his mouth thoughtfully. Caboose sat on the floor next to him, putting stickers on mini-Freckles and humming happily to himself. Carolina could see Donut and Grif in the kitchen through a rectangular hole in the wall that also served as a counter. Donut spotted her as she came into the room and passed the pan to Grif, he leaned forwards on the counter,

“Hey ‘Lina! Did you manage to get the bear out of the cave?” He asks cheerily, 

“Nope, though I wouldn’t worry about him starving to death, he probably has rations or something in his ship,” Carolina replies, wandering over to the counter and leaning on it. 

“Rations are barely real food,” Donut scoffs, and turns back to the oven, 

“I’ll figure out a way to get him in here,” Donut muses to himself. Carolina jumped as there was a flash from the other room, she whirled around to see Sister standing across the table from Wash, holding a camera. 

“Your photos as per requested Wash!” She piped, as the photo she just took emerged from the camera. Wash stuttered, dropping the pencil from his mouth, 

“Not of me!” He pouted, Kai simply rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, producing a small cluster of photos from her pocket. Carolina wandered over, leaning over the back of the couch to look at them, 

“Are those polaroid?” She asks, 

“Gee, Kai, I only wanted simple prints, isn’t polaroid super hard to find?” Wash says, putting his glasses back down on his face and looking at the photos Kai was holding. 

“You wanted photos of the crew! I thought I’d give them the cool sentimental aesthetic too!” Kai said, passing the photos to Wash, “I’m keeping this one tho,” she holds up the photo she just took. It was Wash with the pencil in his mouth and glasses on his head, his hair and beard were messy and he was staring at the camera with alarm. Carolina chuckled, 

“That’s some good blackmail material Kai,” she snorts, circling around the couch to sit on the other side of Wash, 

“What are you using these photos for anyway?” she asks him, 

“I wanted to have a physical copy of notes, uh, reminders and whatnot, and I thought having a physical copy with pictures would help,” Wash rambles, picking up the notebook from the coffee table, 

“So a scrapbook?” Carolina asks, doing her best to hide the amusement in her voice. 

“Don’t make it sound weird!” Wash exclaims, slapping Carolina lightly on the arm, which only makes her laugh, 

“It’s not weird Wash, it’s cute!” She teases, Wash groans, his head falling into his hands. Carolina took the opportunity to grab the photos from Wash’s hands, 

“Hey! I haven’t been able to see them either!” Wash yelled, grabbing for the photos. He brought her hand down so he could look at the photos too. 

The first was a photo of Sarge from this morning, with one foot up on the table and a shotgun on his shoulder. He was yelling orders at Grif. 

“I thought I’d try getting photos that encapsulate them. I know that sounds cheezy as fuck but knowing you, you probaly wanted mugshots or something,” Kai says,

“No Kai, this is good,” Wash replies, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

The next is a photo of Grif and Simmons in the kitchen. Simmons was holding a bag of chips over his head and out of Grif’s reach, and had a hand on Grif’s face attempting to push him away. Though Grif had licked his hand and Simmons was in the process of freaking out when the photo was taken. 

Next was a photo of Donut wearing a pink crop-top, black booty shorts, and heart eye sunglasses. He was lounging on the roof of the base and was nursing a glass of wine while reading a book. 

“Ooo! You got my good side!” Donut exclaimed as he passed by behind them, making the three of them jump slightly. Donut quickly set the plates he was holding down on the table before coming back over and leaning on the back of the couch, looking over Carolina's shoulder. 

Lopez’s photo was much more simple, he was just standing in the garage and was flipping the camera off.

Caboose was staring at the camera with a giant dorky grin on his face, he was sitting in the kitchen covered head to toe in flour. Mini-Freckles stood on the counter behind him, covered in a plastic bag to protect him from the flour.

The next photo was of Tucker in the bathroom, he had nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and was singing, using his toothbrush as a microphone. Aqua sangheili tattoos wrapped up his arm in swirly patterns, they were glowing slightly.

Wash sputtered, glancing over at Kai, 

“How’d you even get this?!” He hissed,

“I knew you would like it,” She responded smugly. Carolina laughs, patting Wash on the shoulder as he hastily moves the picture to the bottom of the pile. 

The next photo made Carolina pause.

It was of her from last night, the campfire. She was leaned forward in her chair and was brandishing a wooden skewer as if it were a sword. Carolina could not remember the last time she saw a photo of herself where she was  _ genuinely smiling _ , and she instinctively reached to grab it. Wash handed to her and looked at the final photo which was of Kai herself, she had her tongue poked out at the camera and was making a heart with her finger and her thumb.

“Doc has been in Chorus so I haven’t gotten a photo of him. And I’ve tried before! But it’s so hard to get a photo of him for some reason!” Kai exclaimed. 

“I know right! It’s like the universe doesn’t want proof he exists!” Donut sighed, draping a hand over his forehead dramatically. 

Wash sniffed, looking down at the photos in his hands, 

“Holy shit are you crying? Did I make the cop cry?” Kai asks, wrapping an arm around Wash’s shoulders. 

“I just- Thank you Kaikana” Wash said, leaning into Kai’s touch, “I think these will help me, so I don’t forget you guys,”

“You’re gonna forget us?”

Everyone froze and looked down at Caboose, who was staring at Wash with big dopey eyes. Wash leaned forward and ruffled his hair, 

“You’re unforgettable buddy, there's just the possibility that I will forget your names, but I will always know it’s you,” Wash said, trying his best to keep the sadness from his voice. 

“Oh yeah I have trouble with names too! We can get names wrong together!” Caboose exclaimed, flapping his hands happily. Carolina let out a silent sigh, crisis avoided. 

  
  
  


They had all gathered for dinner and were eating happily, but Donut could not stop himself from glancing towards the door, then to the empty bowl he had set out on the table. 

“Dude give it up, Locus isn’t coming” Grif said through a mouthful of rice, he really did have horrible manners! 

“That man has probably been alone for this past year! And he got shot! Twice! I won’t rest until I know he has some proper food and good company!” Donut exclaims, gesturing with his fork. 

“I don’t think he would want any company,” Simmons remarked, 

“He should still be eating actual food!” Donut whined, 

“Oh oh! Feral cat!” Caboose yelled, clapping his hands together happily. 

“I’m sorry what?” Carolina asked, looking over at Caboose with an amused glint in her eyes.

“Ooooooh yeah, the feral cat technique! Didn’t it work on both Wash and Carolina!?” Donut exclaimed, “We leave food out for them in hopes of befriending them!”

Wash’s head poked up from where he was eating his curry, confusion plastered all over his face.

“It worked on Tex too,” Tucker sighed, leaning back in his chair. 

“How the fuck does that work?” Carolina asks, “She was a robot!” 

“Yeah but Tex also hoarded all the ammo she could find, so we hid it from her, and we only gave her ammo when she hung out with us,” Tucker yawned, waving a dismissive hand at Carolina. 

“Again, she was an AI, how did you hide it from her?” Carolina asks, clearly peeved, she tended to get like that whenever Tex was brought up. 

“That’s a secret I’m taking with me to the grave,” Tucker grinned

“But Caboose that's a great plan! We’ll win him over through the power of food!” Donut exclaimed, Caboose clapped his hands together again in excitement. 

“I hate to be that guy-” Grif started 

“No you don’t.” Simmons hisses, 

“Touche. Well I'm some guy, and just going to let you know that Locus is probably going to be paranoid as shit and won’t come anywhere near us” 

“He hung out with you,” Simmons mumbled under his breath, poking at his curry. Grif glanced over at him

“What?” 

“Nevermind”

“Well anyways as I said Locus isn’t going to come anywhere near us,” Grif continued. 

Donut raised his hand, “How can you be so sure of that?” 

“His whole vibe is ‘Leave me alone’ so I don’t think he would want to be with us,” he shrugged. 

“Then you just bring the food to him, grab a thermos or something,” Kai says,  “We just ask him to bring the thermos back when he's done, and because he doesn't want human interaction Locus will probably start bringing it into base himself,”

“Why are we trying to do this again? What exactly do we plan to do anyways?” Simmons asks, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Red team is long overdue for a new member!” Sarge announced, shaking his fist in the air. 

“Woah-woah woah no! Locus is not joining the Red team!” Tucker objected, shaking his head. 

“Dibs. He’s ours” Grif smirks, looking over at Tucker. 

“What?! No! I didn’t want him on Blue Team! Or on Red Team! He’s not joining us on anything! He’s probably going to leave the moment he gets the chance” Tucker protested, pointing an accusing finger at Grif.

“Yeeah, about that,” Carolina sighs, “I don’t think he’s going to leave without this,” Carolina holds up the hilt of Locus’s sword. Tucker groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. “I’d like to think he’s smart enough to not try and take it from me, so hopefully he will stick around for a while.”

“We don’t want him here, just give it back so he can leave,” Tucker hisses. 

“ _ You _ don’t want him here!” Donut shot back putting his hands on his hips, 

Tucker raised his head to glare at the blonde, 

“Tucker, I promised Vanessa that I would keep an eye on him for her, you don’t have to like him, but he will probably be here for a while,” Carolina says calmly, a tone of finality in her voice. Tucker throws himself back in his chair, slowly sliding down until only his head can be seen over the table, 

“Fiiiiiiiiine, but if he guts me in my sleep I’m going to haunt you fuckers for the rest of your lives,” 

He paused for a moment, and then looked over at Carolina with a sly grin, 

“So you’re calling her Vanessa now eh? When did that happen?” 

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! had a lot of fun with this chapter and I'm really exited for the next as well! see y'all In two weeks


End file.
